I've grown mini bottle gourds in large (half whiskey barrel or larger) pots with great success. I suspect large birdhouse gourds would do just as well growing along the ground.

I think you should still plant them in the ground though, unless you have a really large porch two or three plants would probably cover your porch.

I was thinking about putting them on the railing and having them grown down. Would that be OK if I just did one in an 8" pot?

I would consider an 8" pot to be too small. The pot I used is around 30". But if that is all you have available then go ahead and try it on one plant, it can't hurt. I think the problem you will run in to is that once the plant starts vining and then setting fruit you won't be able to keep up with watering unless you can give it water every few hours. Even with the big pot I used I had to water it twice a day (morning and evening) when it reached a mature size.

Hi Weirdtrev,

I am growing just one birdhouse gourd plant in a 5 gallon pot and notice that it has begun to blossom. Do I need a lattice on which the vines climb or what else can you suggest? How many gourds would you estimate that it will bear? Currently, a small plastic mesh fencing is holding up the plant as a cylinder but I have no idea how large it will grow. What do you think and can suggest?

Vicki

You don't need a lattice, but if you have one you want to use the gourds would love to grow on it. In a small pot it might only grow 10 or so feet, but it will definitely outgrow your mesh fencing. If you have space you should let at least one vine (either the main vine or one of the side shoots) grow along the ground. Then at the base of each leaf you could mound a little soil to encourage secondary roots. This will help make the plant more vigorous and not as dependent on the pot. If you have a full size birdhouse gourd in that pot you might get 2 or 3 gourds. I had around 11 mini bottle gourds on the plants I grew in the pot. In the future smaller gourds would be better suited for the pot, especially if you want a lot of them.